Year 5 to Liddington

The children in Y5 had a fantastic time at PGL over a three-day period, just before half term. On arrival at Liddington Hall on Wednesday, we enjoyed a picnic lunch by the lakes before getting straight on with the first activities. The children were split into four mixed groups and all worked well on their first co-operative tasks, despite some unexpected drizzle and cool winds. Everyone took part in the sensory trail as well as either the giant swing or vertical challenge. Spirits were high as the dorm groups were announced and we went then to move in to our allocated space, which this year was in the newer accommodation block, Ridgeway, and was spacious and welcoming. A hearty evening meal was eaten and then we were off outside again, appropriately dressed for an evening of ‘wacky races’, which included events such as ‘fast arms, slow legs’ which were as amusing to watch as to participate in!

On Thursday morning everyone was up early and waiting eagerly for breakfast before beginning the day’s activities. There was a real mix for the day – 4 activities for each group, out of fencing, Aeroball, quad bikes, zip wire, trapeze, giant swing and vertical challenge. Some children found the off-ground activities challenging and it was fantastic to see them face their fears and achieve success as they met and surpassed the targets that they set themselves. The weather was beautiful for the day and everyone was happy to be outside and busy with exciting things to do. After supper we went out for a campfire sing-along and enjoyed some very energetic singing and dancing led by the PGL groupies. Everyone slept well after that, including the staff!

Friday started later and more quietly than Thursday; in fact, we had to wake 3 of the dorms up, so that they would have time to pack and move out of the rooms before breakfast. We had time for two final sessions, so that each group had completed the same range of eight different activities during our stay. As we finished lunch and prepared to depart, the PGL staff commented on how much they had enjoyed working with our group and that they had noticed good teamwork and improved listening skills over the last few days. The children had many different highlights to talk about, but it was great to hear comments such as ‘I learnt that I could do more than I thought I could’, ‘I found out that I could do better when I worked with someone else’ and ‘I enjoyed working with different people’ – all that we had hoped to achieve.